Nevada County, the Town of Truckee, and Friends of the Truckee Library have formalized their relationship to work together to build a new 20-000-square-foot Truckee Library facility at Truckee Regional Park.
The current library was built in 1975 when the community had a population of 2,000 (the service area of the library is now approximately 20,000).
In a major step forward on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors and the Truckee Town Council unanimously voted to join a Joint Powers Agreement that will construct the new library. The two jurisdictions also voted to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Friends of the Truckee Library to collaborate on planning, designing, and funding (Friends of the Truckee Library approved the MOU last month).
The project now moves to the design and engineering phase, with each of the three partners committing $500,000 for pre-development costs such as consulting and permitting.
"This is a model for private-public partnership and how to get things done," said Board of Supervisors Chair Hardy Bullock. "The Friends of the Truckee Library created a strong vision for what a new library space could be for our Truckee community, and by working together with the Town, we can help make that vision a reality and better serve our residents."
Truckee Mayor Dave Polivy said, “The development of a new Truckee Library would not be possible without the efforts of all partners involved and directly promotes community connectivity and access to invaluable resources.”
April Cole, director of Friends of the Truckee Library’s LibraryUP campaign, added, “The approval of the new Truckee library JPA and MOU are vital milestones for this project's success. We are so thankful for the County and Town of Truckee’s continued support and collaboration.”
The library is expected to cost up to $30 million, with construction planned to start by 2027. Advocacy efforts by the Friends of the Truckee Library have included community fundraising to help build the new library that will serve as a community center for creativity, collaboration, and connection. For details on the project, visit www.truckeefol.org.